


Hunith's Letter

by Penfold66



Category: Merlin (BBC), Merlin (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Ealdor, M/M, Pre-Canon, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-05
Updated: 2014-07-05
Packaged: 2018-02-07 15:11:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1903695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penfold66/pseuds/Penfold66
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As she sits and writes the letter that she will send along with Merlin to Gaius, Hunith reflects upon her son's childhood and the events that compelled her to send him away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hunith's Letter

**Author's Note:**

> This is my very first attempt at a fanfic and I was surprised at how long it ended up being! I've very much enjoyed writing it and am planning to write (at least) one fiction inspired by something from each episode of Merlin.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it......I would greatly appreciate any comments/criticisms on style or content. :)

Hunith's Letter  
It had almost broken Hunith's heart when she sat in the dim candlelight within her small dark cottage in Ealdor writing a letter to her Uncle Gaius in distant Camelot. She felt she had no choice left but to send her beloved boy far away from the only home he had ever known.   
She felt history repeating itself, having made his father Balinor leave some 17 years earlier. In each case she was sending her loved ones away for their own safety and in each case she felt that she was breaking off a piece of her own heart and sending it out into the unknown. She was young and naive enough when Balinor had gone to hope that the world would soon right itself and that they would be reunited. She'd imagined that after mourning the loss of his Queen Ygraine (who he believed killed by the powers of magic) King Uther would soon see the error of his ways and desist from his obsessive and cruel persecution of magic in all its forms. But, after 17 long years, he showed no signs of letting up and his obsession had poisoned the minds of men throughout his own land and the neighbouring Kingdoms. Despite living in far off Ealdor, Hunith had been in constant fear during those days. Although magic was not outlawed in Cenred's Kingdom, there were no shortage of bounty hunters that would scour outlying villages like hers and would take anyone with magical ability and bring them before Camelot's court in hope of a reward. For the first years of Merlin's life Hunith had lived in fear of the return of his father - patrols from Camelot were often rumoured to be in the nearby borderlands with orders to hunt down the Dragonlord. As time went on she felt less convinced that she would ever see her Balinor again, indeed she was not even sure that he was still alive. It had broken her heart to lose him and had it not been for the gift of a son that he had left her before she compelled him to go, she was not sure that she could have gone on in those dark years.   
Merlin was her life. Like all mothers she'd fallen in love with him as soon as she had set eyes on his newborn form and protected him with the ferocity of a mother lion. He had been a beautiful baby with his father's eyes and a toothless smile that would crack his face in two and reduce those eyes to inverted crescents. That smile could raise Hunith's spirits even when she was in the depths of despair. As a toddler and indeed throughout his young life he had been quick to laughter and quick to tears. He was such a guileless child...utterly unable to mask his emotions behind clever words or indeed behind his features. His thoughts and feelings were written clearly on his face and he never hesitated to say what was in his heart.  
His magical abilities had become evident very early on. In his eigth month of life Hunith had laid him on his stomach and placed his favourite wooden toy just out of reach to encourage him to begin crawling. She had continued with her chores but looked around when his frustrated whimpers had turned to joyous giggles expecting to see his little bottom in the air and his arms reaching for the toy - she'd almost dropped the bucket that she was carrying when she saw him laying on his back with chubby arms raised and watching the carved dragon that was swooping around and around his head as his eyes glowed golden. She'd shown no alarm though, not wanting to scare her babe, but had decided there and then to keep him far away from less gifted children until he was old enough to understand the need to disguise his magic. Inside their home however, she encouraged him to develop his talents and would laugh in delighted surprise when after a long hard day at work the sewing which she took in from villagers to earn a wage would suddenly levitate from her tired hands onto the nearby table and she'd look up see two puppydog eyes and the extended arms of her toddler imploring her to pick him up for a cuddle and how once in her arms he would make tiny embers from the fire dance before their eyes forming familiar shapes from around their home.  
Merlin's formal schooling had been with the other village children under the tutorage of a stern old neighbour Olan. Hunith had made sure that Merlin understood how important it was that he did not use his magic amongst his classmates and the other villagers, or even hint to them that he had special powers. It had been hard trying to make her open, honest little boy understand that he had to mask this part of himself. He'd eventually conceded to her wishes, but she often wondered if she'd done a good enough job explaining why, or whether the seeds of his later discontent had been sown then in his sixth year. How could she have expected him to understand at such a tender age that it was the world around him that was wrong and perverse, and not him? He'd been a good student and had pleased his tutor with his diligence and intelligence although his blatant honesty often got him into trouble with his classmates. Hunith was justly proud of his academic achievements, but couldn't help noticing that he was a lonely soul amongst his peers - his feeling of otherness and the fear of 'outing' his magic prevented him from getting too close to them. Instead, he'd come straight home after study and help his mother in her daily labours or spend his free time out in the surrounding woods and hillsides discovering the secrets of the natural world. He was most at peace in these times, she would see him head off scowling or sometimes even weeping into the wild but half a day later he would return with his gorgeous sunny smile and shining eyes. Sometimes she'd happen upon him out in the forest utterly mesmerised by a swarm of bees busying around their nest. Once she caught him gazing into the sky with gold glowing eyes - she glanced up to see the light summer clouds forming into shapes of fantastical creatures.   
In his twelth year he began spending more and more time away in the woods. At first she wasn't concerned - he was growing and becoming more independent after all - but when Olan came to tell her that he had been absent from his schooling she began to worry. She challenged him about it and after a tearful arguement he confessed that he had met a Druid boy whilst in the forest, and had been spending time with him and his family. He'd been reluctant to tell his mother about them, not wanting her to worry about him 'communing with other wicked magic doers'. She'd told him through her own tears that of course he could befriend people like himself, and that magic was not wicked. It was then that she began to understand how ingrained the fear of magic was - even in her village - and what effect this must have had on her son during his years in the school room. She did her best to allay his fears. Given the villager's innate prejudice against sorcery she couldn't exactly encourage Merlin to bring his new found friends home but she insisted on meeting them and after his initial reluctance her son took her off to meet his friend Jacob and his parents Megan and Logan. Hunith immediately connected with Megan and Logan; their gentle welcoming nature reminded her of her darling Balinor and after so many years of secret keeping it was a delight to talk freely of her son's gift with them; until she met them she didn't realise quite how alone she had been since Merlin's father had gone. It was also a joy to watch her son flourishing in their company. They admitted to Hunith that they were awestruck by the extent of Merlin's powers but never let on to him. Instead they guided him and helped him hone his talents and instructed him in the ways of the Earth Magic. He had always been a good student and in these his informal new studies he excelled. Hunith was startled at how quickly he picked up the language of the old religion - it felt almost as this knowledge had been lying dormant within him and with the coaxing of the Druids was slowly awakening.   
Watching Merlin and Jacob together made her heart sing. After such a lonely childhood it was lovely to see her boy finally connect with a kindred spirit. They would play and study together and were all but inseparable. After disappearing for hours at a time, Hunith would stumble upon them wandering through the undergrowth hand in hand earnestly discussing things that made absolutely no sense to her, or whilst seated with Megan and Logan she'd look up to spy them on the riverbank. Most often Jacob's head would be resting in Merlin's lap and Merlin would be lazily stroking his hair back from his face. At these times they would be mostly silent but would occasionally break into peals of laughter. This puzzled Hunith at first till Megan explained that they were talking to each other with their minds. For four happy years Merlin and Hunith made daily trips through the forest to meet their friends and in that time Merlin blossomed in mind body and spirit. He's singsong voice gave way to deep silky tones and his limbs grew long and coltish. Hunith was sometimes alarmed at how swiftly he grew, but was reassured when his face cracked into a wide grin and his eyes disappeared into crescents and she saw once again her little boy. His bond with Jacob grew stronger with the passing days and despite their changing bodies they remained as affectionate with each other as they had been as children. Their parents saw nothing wrong in this, simply rejoicing to see their children so content.  
All this ended abruptly one autumn morning. There had been reports of bandits in the border region for the whole of the summer but nothing had troubled Ealdor directly for many years so Hunith had pretty much dismissed the rumours. It was a Sunday and she and Merlin were excitedly making their way through the now familiar forest paths laden with bread and cheese and cakes to share with their friends - it was Jacob's sixteenth name day so the treats were a special surprise. As they came close Hunith noticed her son tensing up and when she quizzed him he said that he 'couldn't feel' Jacob nearby. Hunith frowned and reasoned that perhaps his friend was sleeping. Just as she was relating this to her son and commenting that she could certainly smell cooking meat coming from their homestead Merlin gave a stifled cry, dropped his packages and rushed into the clearing. She followed swiftly after and was appalled to see the Druid's meagre possessions strewn around and smashed almost beyond recognition. Her brain was still trying to absorb the shock of this information when Merlin let out a bone chilling primal howl and fell to his knees clutching at what appeared to be a blood soaked pile of rags, Hunith stumbled over to see what remained of beautiful gentle Jacob. His entrails spilled around him, a hand and a foot were missing and his throat was cut from ear to ear. He looked so small. Somehow his serene boyish face had been unmolested and it was this that Merlin was cradling whilst wailing his heartbreak into the heavens. Hunith felt her bile rising and was violently sick before stumbling blindly around unable to process the devastation around her. She tripped over the remains of the Druid's bivouac and fell onto something soft. She pulled back the canvas and let out a scream to equal the wailing that Merlin was still making. Megan lay within with her throat cut so deeply that her head was only attached by a thread to her shoulders and the position of her legs showed that she had been violated. Logan was tied to a nearby tree, charred almost beyond recognition and with a scream fixed on his blackened face. Hunith stumbled back to Merlin and tried to hug him to her but he was inconsolable. He wailed and sobbed and kissed Jacob and brushed his bloodstained hair back from his brow whilst rocking and endlessly chanting, "why? why? why?". She had no idea how long they both sat there in utter desolation but the sun was high in the sky when Merlin wiped his tearstained face with bloodied hands and suddenly jumped to his feet with a look of murderous determination. His eyes turned to liquid gold and scoured the earth around him. When he picked up the trail of the bandits that had done this wickedness he took off at a sprint into the deep dark of the forest. Hunith screamed for him to stop, worried that he would meet the same fate as his friends but he was deaf to her pleas. She stumbled after him. He was young and agile and she soon lost sight of him but in his hurry he left footprints and shreds of clothing on broken branches so she tracked after him. After what felt like an age she heard raised voices and whined in the realisation that her son had found the bandits and was dashing into their camp screaming his ire. The five bandits were startled at first when the gangly youth burst into their midst and leapt onto one of them clawing blindly at his face but all too soon they had jumped up and between them pinned her son to the ground by sitting on his limbs. Merlin fought, screamed and bit but the bandits simply eyed each other and laughed. They were still caked in blood from their previous kill and the goriest amongst them said, "Well now, this one's more spirited than that Druid filth, I shall have him whist he's still alive and kicking and then slit his pretty little throat". Hunith was still processing the implications of these words when the group of bandits wrestled her son up onto his feet, stripped down his breeches and flung him roughly over a nearby boulder. She suddenly realised their intentions and with no further thought ran in and flung herself between her son and the men waving a broken branch whilst howling "stay away from my son!". Once again the men stopped in their tracks, startled at her appearance before the ringleader approached her with a lascivious grin, easily wrestled the stick from her hands and flung her roughly against a nearby tree where the two men not holding Merlin down pinned her arms firmly by her sides. "Since we all worked so hard today boys" the ringleader said into her face, "you can enjoy this one whilst I am taking her son". He began to strip the clothes from her upper body and Merlin screamed shouted and bit and managed to land a kick in the ringleader's kidneys that winded him and knocked him off balance. He got to his feet and grabbed Merlin's hair, cracking his head against the rock and knocking him senseless and limp. Hunith screamed his name, convinced that they had killed her boy and was almost indifferent to the hands stripping and groping her. Suddenly Merlin came to his senses and shook his head and his eyes glowed gold. Despite all she'd seen that day what happened next made Hunith's blood run cold. Suddenly their captors jolted away from them and lay with rigid limbs on the ground unable to move and with terror in their eyes. Merlin turned, unmindful of the fact that his breeches remained around his ankles, raised both hands and glared down at the bandits, shaking in utter fury. As one the bandits began to scream in agony and convulse as blood gushed from their mouths and leaked from their eyes and ears. It was as though their blood was boiling in their very veins. One amongst them screamed for mercy but Merlin was deaf to his pleas. He let go of the spell only when the skin split open on the stomachs of his victims and their entrails spilled onto the earth. It was only when the last victim stopped hissing and gurgling in agony that Merlin came back to himself, collasping on the ground and rolling into a ball with his arms clasped over his head keening at the loss of his darling Jacob and utterly appalled at what he'd just done. His mother gathered him up, gentled him until he stopped rocking and pulled his clothes back around him. After what felt like an age Merlin came back to himself and pulled her into a fierce hug. Dark was almost upon them when they retraced their steps to Ealdor. En route they stopped at the Druid camp and given their beloved friends a decent burial. Merlin quietly dug the grave and gently laid the bodies down side by side. Hunith thought he had no more tears to cry but when they flung the last of the dirt over the mound Merlin's knees gave out and he cried Jacob's name until he was hoarse.   
After the horror of that day Hunith felt that she began to lose her child. In the months that followed the brutal murders they were both in a dark place. Hunith would find herself losing hours at a time, simply staring off into space, or crying without being unable to stop. As well as coping with her loss it was hard for her to reconcile the fact that her gentle, beautiful son had the power and the rage to mete out such agonising punishment to the bandits who had inflicted suffering to their friends. Merlin was sullen and inconsolable. She had always been able to hug him and gentle away his hurts in the past but something so fundamental within him was broken at the loss of Jacob and the loss of his own innocence that she could not reach him. She also suspected that he was wracked with guilt for taking five human lives in such a brutal way. Heaven knows she had tried to talk it through in the first few months - as much for her own comfort as for his - but his initial cold shock had given way to a deep anger and withdrawal from the world. She tried and tried to speak to him but he avoided her, spending more and more time away from home. She had never felt so alone. Although she got on well with the people of her village she could not confide her son's secret or the fact that she had befriended Druids to any of them. Merlin all but gave up on his studies and began to be impatient and sometimes downright rude to the people around him.   
He remained thus until tragedy hit the family of their closest neighbours. A boy from his class, Will, had recently lost his father who had been one of Cenred's soldiers and was killed in battle. The distant King was uncaring of the family's plight and had left Will, his four brothers and his mother with nothing more than his father's armour by way of compensation. Despite her devastating loss Will's mother was forced to work long hard hours to support them all and so wasn't there to help her eldest son come to terms with the death of his father. Will's reaction to his loss was much like Merlin's. More and more they found themselves on the edge of their limited society, having antagonised most of their fellows. At first they had disliked each other and would often argue but as time went by they realised how much they actually had in common and became firm friends. Will had always had a naughty streak that often got him into trouble as a child and now he partnered with Merlin to wreak havoc on the lives of their unsuspecting neighbours - not through any malicious intent but simply to relieve the sadness within them both and make them laugh again. Their pranks were harmless enough - once, whilst one of their neighbours were out gathering crops they took all the furniture from inside the house and set it all up in the barn and moved all the startled animals from the barn into the family's house. Another time they had scared old Mrs Green half to death by stuffing old clothes with cabbages and laying them out in the shape of a body just over the crest of the hill so that as she rode swiftly off to town on her cart at dawn she thought she had run someone down. Will's mother wasn't around to discipline him and Hunith couldn't find it in her heart to chastise Merlin - it was a relef to see him relating to someone his own age again and it was good to see him laugh and smile once more.  
Will and Merlin became thick as thieves and as time went on they opened up to each other more and more. Will began to admit just how devastated he had been by the loss of his father, and the hardship of his life at home. In his turn Merlin felt he trusted Will enough to confide his own loss and whilst out in the forest one day he took Will to the grave of the Druid family and told him the horrific story of their murder. He was worried how Will may react to the news that he had befriended magic users, but Will was utterly indifferent to that fact. This emboldened Merlin to divulge his own abilities, and to admit to his friend what fate had become the bandits. Will was astounded rather than scared by this newly discovered secret and after initial shyness Merlin would often perform for him. Watching Will's delight at his little tricks warmed something in Merlin's heart and for the first time since losing Jacob he felt loved and needed. They became less of a nuisance around the village and would instead spend long hours in each other's company. The more he grew to love and trust Will, the more Merlin demonstrated his affection by holding hands and hugging his friend as he had with Jacob - he had never been taught otherwise. Will was a little startled at first, his own family never having been very tactile, but soon he craved this physical contact with Merlin and felt most content wrapped within his friend's arms listening to his deep bass voice through his chest or trying to best Merlin in an impromptu wrestling match on the muddy riverbank. Despite his long limbs and the fact that he was a whole head taller than Will, Merlin invariably lost these matches. Probably because when he saw the look of earnest determination on Wills face he would collapse into a fits of laughter thereby losing all his strength. It was during one of these play fights that Will had kissed him first. Will was sitting with his knees astride a wriggly giggling mud streaked Merlin holding his arms pinned above his head. Suddenly he'd been struck by the black lashes and reddened cheeks and breathless laughing mouth below him and had simply leaned in and kissed Merlin before he thought about what he was doing. Merlin instantly stilled beneath him and drew in a sharp breath and opened his eyes wide in shock. Will studied him again and placed another gentle chaste kiss on his lips. This time Merlin responded and kissed him back straining his head up to get better purchase on Will's lips as Will pulled back to guage his reaction. Will was still holding his arms and restricting his movement so the only way to stop his escape was for Merlin to bite onto Wills bottom lip. This action seemed to open a floodgate and suddenly they were in an embrace and their tongues were discovering each other's mouths whilst hands explored each other's bodies. This first foray into lovemaking was clumsy and passionate and by turns they howled with laughter at the awkward, improbable positions that they found themselves in and gasped in surprise at the pleasure that this new type of contact gave them. They had both in their early teens discovered the release to be had from touching themselves, but to explore each other's bodies in this way was something new entirely.   
The thrill of this new discovery deepened their friendship even further and they would sometimes disappear for the whole night. They would go deep into the forest and spend hours learning what felt good and being utterly amazed at the pleasure that they found in their fumblings. Merlin toyed with his magical abilities during these passionate moments and both he and Will became intoxicated by the results. Whist they lay together they were utterly absorbed in each other and the pains and problems of their daily lives faded away. On the first night that Merlin didn't return home Hunith feared that he and Will had come to harm. She was frantic with worry and by time her son had returned at dawn she had cried herself hoarse and bitten her nails to the quick. Merlin had been dismayed to see her thus and had engulfed her in his long arms and gentled her until her sobs subsided. He told her where he had been and what he had discovered that night. As she looked up into his face any words of caution died on her lips as she saw such joy and contentment and love shining in the eyes of her boy. Instead of condemning his actions she simply pleaded with him to take care and in future to let her know before he planned to spend a night away from home.  
Because of his somewhat solitary childhood Merlin was something of an innocent and saw this physical closeness as a natural extension of his friendship with Will. Will was a little more worldly and knew that what they were doing was considered by most of the people around them to be unnatural and wrong. But, he was a rebel at heart and refused to be cowed by convention. It inevitably led them into conflict with their fellow villagers. If he saw his friend around the village, Merlin would not think twice before enveloping him in a passionate embrace oblivious to the tuts and snide remarks from people around them. Will would register the displeasure and would play up to it, irritating those small minded folk even more. Harsh words were exchanged on more than one occasion - Will would become angry but Merlin would use his sharp wit to diffuse the situation and drag is friend off elsewhere. Several times the villagers went to Hunith to complain about her son's 'unnatural behaviour'. She would tolerate no such complaints and would ask what possible harm the boys were doing to anyone or anything?   
One Beltane Eve the conflict came to a head. Merlin and Will had feasted with the villagers and joined in with the dancing for several hours. Merlin had no real head for alcohol though, worrying that by dropping his guard he might reveal his magic, so once the villagers began to make merry and become raucous he had taken his friend away to the lake to enjoy the stillness and beauty of the early spring evening. Because it was Beltane, magic was thick in the air and Merlin showed Will many wonders before they lay amongst the young fern and enjoyed each other. It was well after midnight when they made their way back toward the village, sated, subdued and happy. They could still hear the party going on within the tavern - the village square celebrations having ended several hours before when mothers began to take their tired children off home to bed. They walked arm in arm across the Square talking quietly and heading for their respective homes and were taken utterly by surprise when six very drunk men stumbled from behind the wall of the Blacksmiths forge and straight into them. Merlin - never the most graceful creature - stumbled sideways and fell over a bench and into a puddle letting out a startled "oh!" then "ow!" as he landed awkwardly twisting his ankle. The drunken men quickly regained their balance, saw Merlin's prostrate form and howled with laughter. Will had rushed to his friend's side to tend to the injured ankle and was incensed at their reaction.  
"He's hurt, you bloody oafs, haven't you at least got the decency to say sorry?" shouted Will through their laughter. Ben, a large ugly boorish fellow of about 40 stopped laughing, looked down at Merlin through bleary bloodshot eyes and said, "Oh don't be so dramatic - he only tripped over....if he were a real man he'd be back on his feet by now rather than lolling there like some delicate maiden". The men behind Ben, including his son who was of the same age as Will and Merlin laughed even harder.  
"And what is that supposed to mean?" said Will through gritted teeth  
"Leave it, Will" pleaded Merlin aware how unpredictable the drunkards were liable to become. He attempted to stand in able to move his friend away, but his leg buckled beneath him and he shouted in agony. Will instinctively reached out and caught him by the waist to steady him and made shushing, comforting noises.  
"Look at this boys" bellowed Ben unecessarily at this fellow drunkards who stood not a foot behind him, "Young William has gone soft in the head since his father died and thinks that Hunith's bastard is some kind of wilting princess. It's discusting how they carry on". He stumbled closer and breathed beery fumes into Wills face as he implored, "You should keep the fuck away from him....he's not right in the head. He thinks he's too good for the people here and spends all his time gawping at the trees and flowers and now you're behaving like him, like you think you're better than us. You walk around mooning at eachother and smooching like newlyweds. It's not natural the way you two carry on..." Behind him the others nodded their assent and mumbled, "fucking perverts" and made lewd kissing noises and thrusting motions with their hips.  
"What's it to you??" screamed Will, pushing the older man away. "I'd rather spend my time with him than with that brainless excuse of a son of yours. If anything around here is not natural it's the amount of time he spends down by the pig pen - but then maybe he feels comfortable there, amongst his relations" Despite himself Merlin snorted with laughter at this and that was enough for Ben to lose his temper and to strike out at Will. Ben's reflexes had been dulled alcohol so Will easily dodged the punch and instead rolled over and landed a stinging blow with his elbow onto the back of Ben's neck sending him sprawling into the mud. This was the signal that the other drunks had been waiting for and they all jumped into the fray wildly kicking and punching at both Will and Merlin. Merlin curled into himself almost immediately covering his face with his folded arms; his ankle was too sore to take his weight and he'd anyway never had the stomach for fighting - much less so since he'd discovered what he was capable of in fury when he had killed the murderous bandits. Despite his lack of resistance they kicked and punched him around the body and head but soon grew bored when he failed to respond. Will on the other hand was putting up a spirited fight and was somehow actually managing to best the three men beating him. When Merlin's attackers turned their attention to him however, he didn't stand a chance. Merlin watched in horror through puffy tearstained eyes as they kicked and punched his friend until Will stopped moving - and then they carried on. Merlin was in fear for his friend's life and tried to intervene. He yelled at them but to no avail. He was in too much pain to fight them but crawled over and shielded Will's body with his own as best he could until four people picked him up and flung him roughly aside then continued kicking at Will's unmoving form. Merlin screamed in panic and he suddenly feared for his friend's life. He would NOT lose someone else like this! He frantically looked around and saw a pile of old horse shoes in a box by the entrance to the forge. His eyes glowed golden and the box suddenly rose into the air and flew into the bowed backs of three of Will's attackers, knocking them over the unconscious Will and into the mud. The bench that he had origionally fallen over raised high into the air and fell crashing onto the heads of the remaining three attackers who fell stunned onto the ground. It was at that moment just as Merlin was starting to raise fist size rocks into the air with his mind that he heard his mother's voice shout "MERLIN!" in something approaching terror. She'd woken when the fighting and yelling began and rapidly pulled on a cloak, never expecting to find her son beaten and bloodied outside.   
At the sound of his mother's voice Merlin came to his senses and let the rocks fall to the ground. Hunith rushed to his side and checked over his bloodied face, wiping away his tears. Despite her small frame she helped him to stand and began staggering with him toward their home. Merlin was frantic with worry for Will who still had not stirred and sent Hunith back to help him. The fracas had bought some of the revellers from the tavern so by time Hunith returned to Will, he was surrounded by men who were tending to him whilst his own hysterical mother (who had come outside several moments after Hunith) was cradling his head and screaming at the group of men who had done this to her boy. For their part the men who had beaten Will and Merlin were slowly coming back to conscienseness and began mumbling about glowing golden eyes and levitating rocks and flying boxes - and Hunith's blood ran cold. This was what she had always feared. She blustered in amongst them and joined Will's mother in berating their behaviour. She also made it blatantly clear that she thought them so drunk that they had imagined the magic. Once she was as sure as she could be that her fellow villagers were on her side, she returned indoors to Merlin who sat shaking in anger and shock. It took her until long after dawn to tend to his physical and emotional wounds and as he sobbed himself to sleep she realised that although it would break her heart, the only way to keep him safe was to send him far away from these people. For hours she racked her brains about where he could possibly go until she remembered that her old Uncle Gaius had helped find safe passage for Balinor, and he himself has studied magic as a youth. Sending her boy to Camelot seemed like sending him into the jaws of the lion, but she trusted old Gaius and felt she had no other option. So with heavy heart she sat and penned the letter that she would send with Merlin as soon as he was fit enough to make the journey,  
"My Dear Gaius,  
I turn to you for I feel lost and alone and don't know who to trust. It is every mother's fate to think her child is special and yet I would give my life that Merlin were not so. Ours is a small village and he is so clearly at odds with people here that if he remain I fear what will become of him. He needs a hand to hold, a voice to guide, someone that might help him find a purpose for his gifts. I beg you, if you understand a mother's love for her son keep him safe and may God save you both.  
Hunith"  
......as she settled down to sleep she hoped to all the gods that she was doing the right thing....


End file.
